Austria enhances border restrictions due to FMD outbreak

Austria has enforced restrictions at 11 border crossings with Hungary and Slovakia, increasing delays for road freight transports leaving and entering the country. The new limits include extra inspections and verification of documents. They follow the closure of 24 other border crossings to contain an expanding foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Hungary and Slovakia. The closure began on April 5 and will remain in place until May 20. The affected border crossings were determined by the Ministry of the Interior in coordination with health authorities and the Ministry of Agriculture. They are mainly in the provinces of Lower Austria and Burgenland. Rail traffic is not affected.
Meanwhile, Gergely Gyulas, chief of staff for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said that the FMD outbreak in his country may be the product of a “biological attack” with an “artificially engineered virus.”